Description
Elinor Burkett's book "So Many Enemies, So Little Time" is a political travelogue that tells the story of her yearlong odyssey through enemy territories. She begins her odyssey in Kyrgyzstan, teaching journalism to students who are disillusioned with the Soviet Union. She then travels to Afghanistan and Iraq, where she watches the gathering storm clouds of an American-led invasion. She also travels to Iran, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, China, and Vietnam. Throughout her travels, Burkett offers an eclectic mix of adventures, including cooking a chicken in a crumbling apartment and bowling with Iraqis. Her book is alternately comical, poignant, and discomfiting.
Bowling with Iraqis, riding motorcycles with Mullahs in Iran--Elinor Burkett bears witness to the other side of the war on terror in this dazzling political travelogue. At a time when Americans were so riveted by questions about their place in a newly hostile world and were swearing off air travel, Elinor Burkett did not just take a trip -- she took a headlong dive into enemy territories. Her yearlong odyssey began with her assignment as a Fulbright Professor teaching journalism in Kyrgyzstan, a faded fragment of Soviet might in the heart of Central Asia -- a place of dilapidated apartments, bizarre food, and demoralized citizens clinging to the safety of Brother Russia. She then journeyed to Afghanistan and Iraq -- where she mingled with tense Iraqis, watching the gathering storm clouds of an American-led invasion -- as well as Iran, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, China, and Vietnam. Whether she's writing about being served goat's head in a Kyrgyz yurt, checking out bowling alleys in Baghdad, or trying to cook a chicken in a crumbling apartment, Burkett offers an eclectic series of adventures that are alternately comical, poignant, and discomfiting.